


Jedi Recovery

by xxAnimeAbsxx



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Bickering Married Couple, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Secret Marriage, stitch up your wounds and fondly scold you for being so reckless
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxAnimeAbsxx/pseuds/xxAnimeAbsxx
Summary: A follow up to Season 1 Episodes 13-14 "Jedi Crash" and "Defenders of Peace". After weeks apart and no communication, Padmé worries for Anakin's safety. When he comes home injured from a perilous mission, Padmé decides to forgo her senate duties just this once to take care of him. Fluffy domestic hurt/comfort ensues.
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	Jedi Recovery

Padmé paced the length of her apartment, clutching her blue velvet robe around her waist as she stared pensively out the windows that lined the room. She wasn’t one to take nightmares seriously, but the one she’d just awoken from refused to leave her mind. It certainly didn’t help that it had been days since Anakin had returned any of her holo messages. She knew she shouldn’t read too much into it; he had been sent off to aid General Secura’s legion, and on any mission there could countless reasons why he wouldn’t be able to call... but no matter how busy he was, no matter how demanding the mission, Anakin always managed to duck away to call her, even if just for a moment, even if it risked him getting caught. So what was different about this mission? 

Padmé tried to assure herself that he must have just been out of signal range... but as more days passed, it became harder to believe. If he didn’t have such a penchant for blowing up ships and putting himself in danger to show off or rescue a few clone troopers, it might’ve been a little easier for her to sleep at night. She shook her head, cursing herself for marrying someone so reckless.

“Mistress Padmé!” Threepio exclaimed, rushing into the room “By the maker! What are you doing awake at such an hour? Are you alright?”

Padmé gave him a tired smile “Don’t worry about me, Threepio, I just couldn’t sleep. It’s just been so long since I’ve heard from Anakin. I know I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help but think that something might’ve happened to him.”

“Master Ani certainly has a way of getting himself into trouble,” Threepio shook his head “But you need not worry, he always manages to find a way out.”

“You’re right.”

“I suggest you get some rest,” said the droid “I’m sure you want to be well rested for your meeting with the supreme chancellor tomorrow.”

Padmé sighed and sat down on a sofa overlooking the city. “I’ll try a little later,” she assured him, doubting she could keep the promise. “I think I just need to sit out here for a while until I calm down.”

Threepio cocked his head to the side. “Perhaps a cup of tea would help, my lady?” 

“That would be wonderful, Threepio. Thank you.”

An hour had passed. Padmé has assured her droid that his services wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the night, and remained seated by the window, slowly drinking her now lukewarm tea as she watched the speeders go by outside. For a moment, she debated calling Anakin again, but she hoped that he was asleep at this hour and would feel terrible waking during so demanding of a mission. She searched for solace in the neon lights of the city below. Maybe he’d call in the morning, hopefully not during her meeting with the chancellor, but even that would be better than nothing. All she needed was to hear his voice, just to know that he was alive. She wanted him there with her, safe at home, away from the gunfire and battle droids, asleep beside her in bed with his face nestled against her neck and his arms around her chest... but she had learned to settle for a call, for a signal, and that was all she was asking for now. All she needed to hear was-

Padmé jumped at the sound of a key code outside of her apartment, followed by the front door sliding open. He came home. He was alive. She set down her teacup so fast she nearly dropped it, her heart pounding as she rushed toward the door. 

“Ani?!”

“Padmé! Did I wake you up? I’m sorry, I thought you’d be asleep.” 

His voice was low, more gravely than usual, but finally hearing the sound of it again released a tension in Padmé’s shoulders that she hadn’t realized she was holding. The entrance to the apartment was dark, but she could make out his silhouette in the light from the hallway. 

“Anakin!” Padmé cried out, rushing to close the distance between them. “You’re here! I was so worried!” She threw her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his broad chest.

Anakin winced, adjusting himself to angle his chest away from her before wrapping his arms around her “Careful,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I’m a little scratched up.”

Padmé pulled back to turn on a light and finally look at him. His chest and forehead were wrapped in bloody bandages, and though he was clearly trying to hide it, she could read the exhaustion in his face and his stance. She took the side of his face in his hand and looked imploringly into his ice blue eyes. “Ani, what happened to you?”

“Just your standard mission, nothing too exciting,” he said “I’m sorry I couldn’t call you, we were stranded on Maridun for a few days, I promise I’ll tell you everything in a minute, but do you mind if we sit down first?”

Padmé nodded frantically “Of course! You go lie down in our room, I’ll go get you some fresh bandages and something to drink. Are you hungry?”

“You’re too sweet, you know that?” Anakin smiled, pressing his lips to her forehead before. “Don’t worry so much, I’m fine.”

“How can I not worry?” she called after him “And you didn’t answer my question!”

He laughed. “I said I’m fine!”

Padmé wasn’t so sure, but it couldn’t be helped. She shook her head fondly and snuck off to find some fresh bandages without alerting Threepio.

Padmé hurried back from the kitchen, a teacup in one hand and a basket of medical supplies in the other. She’d learned to have these things ready after all the missions her husband had returned from with some injury or another. This was the worst state she’d seen him in since he’d lost his arm on Geonosis, and as much as this filled her with panic, she wanted to stay calm for his sake. She walked into the bedroom to find him leaned forward on the bed, clenching his jaw a little as he pulled off his boots. He noticed her presence and immediately masked any sign of pain on his face.

“Need some help with that, tough guy?” she asked.

Anakin rolled his eyes and kicked off his boot. “I’m alright, thank you. What’ve you got there?”

“I made you some tea.”

He kissed her as he took the cup from her. “You’re too cute, you know that?”

Padmé pulled up a chair next to the bed and started untying the bandage around his forehead.. “Now, as much as I like the sexy bounty hunter look it’s giving you, I need to change this.”

Anakin smirked “Sexy bounty hunter?”

“You look the part, maybe it’d be a good career move for you. You can still get yourself just as scratched up as the Jedi get you, and I hear that bounty hunters are actually allowed to have wives. Imagine that!”

Anakin laughed and leaned back into the pillows. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t think Obi-wan would be too pleased.”

“Since when do you wait for Obi-wan’s approval for anything?” she cleaned off the wound on his forehead and started rebandaging it. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I wish I could say so much for the other one, but you’re not gonna like it.

“I’m sure I won’t,” Padmé began unwinding the bandages around his chest. “Ani, why are these on the outside of your robes? It’s clearly not supposed to be a back brace.”

Anakin shook his head. “I don’t know, ask the weird little lemur kid who healed me. He just set these glowing seed pods on my chest and my face. He didn’t even open up my robes to check the wounds out so I’m not sure how well they worked, but I feel better enough to walk at least.”

“So what happened?”

“Well, the Seperatist ship we were on was about to blow up, I had to stay on it a little too long to hold the door open for Aayla’s men, got a little burned up and probably got hit by some rubble, I passed out so I’m not really sure.”

Padmé tried her best to conceal her concern as she opened up his robes and saw the massive burn scar across his chest. She opened up a jar of healing ointment and started to apply it to the wound with gentle fingers. “I’m sorry, this might sting a little,” she said.

“I can barely feel it,” he lied through gritted teeth. “Oh, and then our ship crashed-”

She gave him a scolding look. “You crashed another ship?”

Anakin pretended to be offended. “Why’d you assume it was me? Ahsoka was there too you know, why’d you think it was me and not my teenage padawan? I’m a great pilot!”

Padmé rolled her eyes. “I’ve flown with you too many times to think otherwise,” she said “Ahsoka isn’t as much of a speed demon as you are, at least not yet. Besides, since when do you let her fly when you’re on the same ship?”

“Fair point, but I didn’t have a choice this time,” he smiled “I was on life support.”

Padmé almost dropped the jar. “Life support?!” she gasped “Anakin, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just did! Besides, it wasn’t for very long. Apparently they plugged in the wrong coordinates going through hyperspace and had to shut down all power to stop us from crashing into a star. So then they warped to whatever coordinate they could plug in and we crashed on Maridun, I’m sure that didn’t help.”

Padmé pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes as she took in a weary breath. “It baffles me that you can describe almost dying four times over like it’s something so simple and funny. Are you alright to sit up so I can put these new bandages on?” Anakin nodded, grimacing as he pulled himself up and removed his robes the rest of the way. Padmé shook her head as she started to wind the bandages around his chest. “How am I supposed to sleep at night knowing that you consider that kind of pain and trouble to be just another day?”

“Hey, at least I didn’t get electrocuted this time, that’s happened more times than I can count.”

She looked at him sternly as she finished binding the wound. “Anakin.”

Anakin looked at her apologetically, realizing she wasn’t in the mood to joke about this. He remembered how quickly she’d come to meet him at the door, clearly long since awake when he’d been sure he’d come home to her asleep. He realized, studying the dark circles under her eyes, that this definitely wasn’t the first sleepless night she’d spent while he was away. “Padmé, I’m sorry,” he said, reaching out to caress her face. “I don’t want to make you worry. I’m okay now, and besides, I always manage to get out, no matter how tight the situation.”

Padmé leaned into his touch and closed her eyes, holding his hand to her face with hers and letting the warmth of his skin soothe her thoughts “I’m just afraid,” she admitted “You’re so reckless, and you know that I love you for it. I admire how willing you are to put your life on the line for other people, and I know that’s your duty as a Jedi, it’s just that…” she looked at him almost mournfully “It seems like you have close calls almost every mission, and I know there’s things you don’t tell me because you don’t want me to be concerned, but… Every time you go out there, I’m afraid that you won’t make it back home.”

He smiled at her tenderly and held out his arms to her. “Come here.”

“Are you sure? That burn is really bad, I don’t want to touch you the wrong way and put you in more pain-”

“I said come here. I’ll be fine. Let me hold you.”

Padmé smiled and crawled up into bed beside him. She cautiously wrapped her arms around his back and leaned her face against his neck. Anakin returned her embrace, kissing the soft curls of her hair as he whispered “I will always come back home to you, no matter what happens.”

Padmé’s whole body trembled as she finally allowed herself to cry. She had been forcing herself to keep a strong face for so long, through the days of senate meetings she’d gone without knowing if Anakin was alive, back at her apartment so she wouldn’t trouble poor Threepio who didn’t know what to do when she was upset… even when she was alone, she hadn’t let herself cry or acknowledge her feelings too deeply, knowing that the moment she finally let it out, there was no going back. But now, he was here. After days of uncertainty, she could now breathe and let go, knowing that at least for right now, he was alright, and in the warmth of his arms, she finally felt safe enough to fully let out the fear and loneliness that had gripped her this whole time.

“How can you be sure that you’ll come back?” she sobbed.

“You are the most important thing to me in this galaxy,” he told her “You’re the reason I keep fighting when this war seems hopeless. I don’t even think death could keep me away from you. I dare it to try.”

“Don’t say that!” she laughed, brushing the tears away from her eyes. “Alright, I’ll believe you. Just promise to be a little more careful?” she leaned her forehead against his, careful not to touch the wound “For me?”

“Only for you, I promise.” 

She nestled up against his chest and ran her fingers through his hair. “Now please tell me that the rest of your mission was uneventful? No more near death experiences?”

“Nothing too bad,” he yawned “Just had to take out a legion of battle droids before they took out a peaceful village with a defoliator gun.”

Padmé scoffed “You fought in this condition? That’s ridiculous, you should have been resting!”

“It’s fine, I’ve fought through worse. Besides, I didn’t really have a choice. The Lurmens wouldn’t defend themselves until their village was about to be destroyed, and even then, they insisted upon a pacifistic approach.”

“Now don’t bash pacifists, I know that aggressive negotiations are your favorite, but they’re not always the best way. Besides, my good friend Satine is a pacifist, and she’s one of the greatest leaders I know.”

“I know, I know,” he said “But this was far from the place for a diplomatic solution. Someone had to whip out a lightsaber and get the job done, and it had to be me.”

“Alright,” Padmé shook her head. “But you’re not going to be whipping out your lightsaber until you’re well again as long as I have any say in it. You’re going to stay home for the next few days and you’re not allowed to exert yourself. I refuse to hear anything otherwise.”

Anakin raised an eyebrow. “Very intimidating, my lady. But what if the council comes looking for me?”

“I will hear nothing of it!” she snapped “If they have the audacity to send you out on the battlefront before you’re fully healed then I’ll…. I’ll tell them I’m holding you hostage!”

Anakin laughed so hard that the burn on his chest flared up again. He pressed his hand to it and shook his head. “I like the sound of that. Look, we can figure this out in the morning, but can we go to sleep? I’m sure you could use some rest too; knowing you, you probably have a busy day tomorrow.”

Padmé thought of her meeting with the chancellor with a bitter taste in her mouth. It was just another piece of long winded and pointless bureaucracy, one that she’d be content to put up with any other day, but now… she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Anakin. She thought of all the times that the only night they’d spend together in weeks was interrupted by an emergency senate hearing or orders from the Jedi, all the times that Anakin was on meditative retreat but she had to finish a bill. Her job gave her purpose, and she knew how much rode on her shoulders every day, but just this once, couldn’t the Republic spare her a moment of happiness and peace?

“Actually,” she said “You came home at just the right time. I don’t have anything on my schedule tomorrow.”

“Really?” he asked, his tone skeptical as he settled into the pillows “I find that hard to believe. Since when do you get a day off?”

“I get days off!” she said, mentally planning out the call she’d make to the Chancellor in the morning, pretending to have taken ill. Or maybe she’d have Threepio do it for her. She debated whether that would be more or less convincing. “I’m just lucky that it landed while you’re here. We can spend the whole day here tomorrow. I’ll make us breakfast, we could take a bath together and get that battle grime off of you, stay in bed all afternoon. How does that sound?”

Anakin took her hand in his and pressed his lips to her palm. “Nothing would make me happier,” he said. “I love you, Padmé.”

“I love you, Ani,”

In a moment, Anakin was asleep in her arms. Padmé reached behind her to turn out the light before cuddling in close and gently stroking his hair. Finally, after countless sleepless nights, she was lulled to sleep by his warmth and the rise and fall of his chest.


End file.
